Injuries galore as Manly’s resurgence continues after win v Warriors

Manly may have won the game but the major talking point in the clash between the Sea Eagles and the New Zealand Warriors is a season-ending injury to Shaun Johnson. Sent to hospital mid-game to determine the severity, it is a cruel blow for the Warriors side, who have looked good in recent weeks on the back Johnson’s work and creativity.

It was not the Warriors day from the get-go, as Manly continued their recent run of form to climb up the ladder, recording a 32-12 win away from home. Several of their key players stepped up, as well as unsung heroes like Jake Trbojevic and Matt Ballin.

It was attack galore and the Sea Eagles were clinical in theirs, as they executed perfectly and put the Warriors under the pump on several occasions. The win was soured, though, as both sides suffered major injury tolls.

Along with Johnson’s injury, Raymond Faitala-Mariner suffered concussion before returning, Bodene Thompson went off the field with a knee injury, with Manly hit by injuries even harder.

Steve Matai left the field due to concussion, Luke Burgess has a potential season-ending knee injury, Tom Symonds also has a knee injury and Ligi Sao also left the field. The Manly win was made all the more valiant based on that very fact, that they played good parts of the game with no-one on the interchange.

It was doubles to Brett Stewart and Jorge Taufua that helped to seal the win for Manly and the win was a crucial one for them, particularly in light of a recent tumultuous week that spoke of players leaving and the constant talk of coach Geoff Toovey being let go.

Whilst the belief is in the camp for Manly, they have a tough game against Brisbane next week and will likely have to win most of their remaining games to make the finals.

As for the Warriors, the loss was their second consecutive loss of 14 points or more and with the injury to Johnson, many are now wondering where their x-factor will come from.

When talking about it post-game, Warriors coach Andrew McFadden was disappointed and dejected that his key play-maker is out for the year.